Pax: The Father's Grace: Chyril 27th MT

[Guido Cercatoro]

“Why on earth should I have cheese on my head? Is it good for the hair?” The small angular-faced gnome had a perplexed look on his face but took the offered cloth. After inspecting the cloth to his satisfaction, he folded it and put it into his pocket. The molten cheese dripped off his hair and landed on the bar. Tracing a finger through the cheese puddle, he scooped up a little and popped it into his mouth.

“I am Jermaine Lazaraus.” He bent forward to whisper in Mara’s ear. “Don’t tell anyone, Mara, but Jake’s my brother.” He cast a quick glance at the barkeep, favouring his companion with a conspiratorial smile.

“I am an inventor. Many regard me as the foremost inventor in Pax. If you have a problem that needs solving, I’m always ready to assist. And if you don’t have a problem, I can find you one.” Jermaine wiped his lips with the back of one hand.

“Good cheese,” he said before dipping his finger back into the blob on the bar and inserting his finger into his mouth once again. “The last singer here liked cheese. Shame he’s gone.”

[Mara Zucaro]

Mara just blinked as her cloth disappeared into the gnome's clothes while the cheese continued to drip. Mara suspected that she would be reacting this way a lot if she continued to work here. "I am sure that if I have a problem you will be the first person I think of." Mara assured him. I'll be thinking, I'd better not tell Jermaine about this lest he try to help.

"Well I like cheese." Mara commented and scooped up a finger herself. "But I'm afraid I'm biased about the previous singer leaving since it means I might get the job. What happened to the last singer anyway?" She asked before sucking the cheese off her finger.

[Guido Cercatoro]

"So, you are the new singer," said Jermaine in an admiring voice. "It's about time we had a replacement. The last fellow had a vivid imagination. Claimed he saw ghosts when he played his instrument. It happened mainly when he was practicing in his home he said, when no-one else was there."

"Load of rubbish if you ask me," continued Jermaine dismissively. "Still it got him a lot of free drinks, so mayhap he wasn's such an idiot. And that white house of his was a bit weird and he did leave in a bit of a rush. My brother might know more details if you're interested."

The gnome closed the top plate of his invention and wrapped it back up in its covering. "I was making a new type of pipe for this musician fellow; he was keen on new sounds. I'm not musical myself but it's nearly finished. You can have it if you want. I've no use for it."

[Mara Zucaro]

"I'm always interested in a good story." Mara said absently. This town of Pax Balthazar sounded stranger with each passing minute. Jermaine's next offer caught her off guard. "A pipe? Well, I don't really play myself." But if this pipe had something to do with these ghosts then it might be worth having. "But I've always wanted to learn." She finished with a slight smile. "Thanks for the offer."

Mara motioned Jake over. "Jermaine here was been trying to scare me with tales of the last singer seeing ghosts." Mara teasingly accused. "I want to hear the whole story. Do you have a burn to tell it?"

[Guido Cercatoro]

“I’ll bring the pipe later,” said Jermaine, good-naturedly. “If you’re not here, I’ll leave it behind the bar.” With that, Jermaine could contain himself no longer and strode back to the other gnomes, gesticulating wildly.

Jake laughed as he leant over the bar besides Mara. “The singer’s story? Well, it is a story that is worth telling, that’s for sure. But I must tell you that the singer liked his ale, so telling fact from fiction was difficult with that adhiel, very difficult indeed. And he supplemented his income with some wild stories. Still, he assured me that his own story was true.”

The proprietor arched his back and poured himself an ale. “Now this adhiel was a refugee from the mouth, or so he claimed. He said they ran him out because he was too good a musician, put the Oneists to shame.” Jake chuckled softly, rubbing his beard. “He did have talent that’s for sure, when he didn’t drink.”

“In any event, he managed to wangle himself a decent house. Did a favour for the Provost, he said. He turned up here, asked for a job and he played well enough so I kept him on. Then one day he turned up looking pale. He said that during the night half of his wooden house had turned to stone, just like the white stone of the walls. It shook him up, it did. He was never quite the same again.”

The gnome drained his mug and set it down heavily on the table. “The next night he looked twice as bad. Told me that when he was practising, he heard strange wails and movements in his house. He was convinced that his playing was waking the dead and that they were talking to him. For some reason he wanted a wind instrument; he said that strings didn’t have enough power. Tried to get Jermaine to make him some sort of pipe.”

The barkeep paused, wiping his lips. “Thirsty work, this story telling malarkey.”

[Mara Zucaro]

"That is why storytellers always get paid in ale." Mara nodded and slid a few coins over. "I'll have another and draw one for yourself too." Mara offered. Once the gnome had brought over the drinks, Mara asked, "So where is this house? Jermaine's already brought me the pipes. Mayhaps I'll go ghost hunting. It might make for a good song or tale even if it is all just this singer's addled wits."

[Guido Cercatoro]

With a quiet smile of appreciation, Jake took the coins and soon returned with two foaming mugs of ale.

“The house is in the south east corner of Pax in the heart of the residential district,” explained the barkeep. “You can’t miss it. It’s known as the White House, on account of it’s….well…white. The Provost might have found a new resident by now, so if you want to look around it might not be straightforward.”

Stroking his chin thoughtfully, the gnome leant over the bar towards Mara. "Take care if you use them pipes. My brother's inventions have a habit of...." He glanced towards the now wrappped bread-burner. "...not working quite as planned."

[Mara Zucaro]

Mara followed his glance and nodded. "Point taken." She said seriously. "I'll be careful. Wouldn't want you to have go looking for a new singer so soon after all." She grinned. "Well I have to go see a man about an old friend. See you tonight and thank you." Mara finished off her beer and headed off to explore Pax and meet Vernon.

OOC: I'm done here and thanks!

[Guido Cercatoro]

(OOC: fin and locked for that skilling thingymagig )

[Turi]

skilled, summarised and all that jazz